OUR PLACEMENTS

Placement summary

Industry leadership organisation Scotland Food & Drink, is seeking a talented graduate to undertake a rare and exciting commercial project which will see you working directly with Tesco plc for the majority of the placement. The ideal candidate will be seeking a career in the food and drink industry in Scotland and is highly motivated by this exciting sector.  The overall aim of the role is to help grow the sales of Scottish food and drink. The role will be located between Tesco (Livingston) and Scotland Food & Drink (Ingliston).

Job description

Project Description

Working in partnership with Tesco, Scotland Food & Drink has an excellent opportunity for an individual to gain invaluable insight, skills and knowledge to one of Scotland’s most progressive sectors. The successful candidate will work with Tesco’s Scottish commercial buying and marketing team to help develop the trading capabilities of suppliers, through effective product ranging, promotions and marketing and help them grow their sales.  You will also work closely with Scotland Food & Drink’s Access to Markets project to share best practice with the industry via initiatives such as briefing events, workshops and learning journeys.

Placement Objectives

The aim of the placement is to help build the trading capabilities of suppliers, thereby, increasing the overall sales of Scottish food and drink products via Tesco retail outlets. Additional aims will be to share industry best practice (via Scotland Food & Drink).

Role Description

Main Tasks:

Grow sales

• Working with the Buying Manager, grow sales through analysis of sales performance, waste and margin data and delivery of effective product ranging (including new product development) and promotions
• Working with the Marketing Manager, grow sales through delivery of effective consumer communications, promotions and events

Build trading capabilities

• Provide support to Tesco suppliers and help develop their capabilities in performance analysis, business planning, product ranging and promotional planning
• Work closely with selected suppliers to develop their skills in data analysis, performance reporting and account management

Share best practice with industry

• Working with Scotland Food & Drink to share best practice insights, provide support to the wider community of food & drink producers, via delivery of relevant Access to Markets events

Qualifications

Degree in Business Management, Business Studies, Marketing or Commercial Management

Skills / Experience

Essential Skills

This position is suitable for a highly ambitious graduate who has a keen interest in retailing and is excited by the prospect of working in the food and drink sector in a fast moving commercial and marketing role.

Ideally, you will possess a degree or equivalent in Business Management, Business Studies, Marketing or Commercial Management.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills - presentation and report writing
• Excellent analytical and numerical skills – comfortable with Excel and working with spreadsheets 
• Forward thinking, commercially focused and confident at solving problems
• A self-motivated individual who has the ability to deliver multiple tasks/projects, on time and to budget (where appropriate)
• An ability to understand the importance of the retail shopper and how this relates to the role
• A fast learner of new skills and disciplines
• Good with people and have the ability to work individually or as part of a team
• Personable; relationship management and ability to influence stakeholders - both internal (a small, diverse team) and external (suppliers, agencies, etc). 

Desirable Skills

• Possess a passion for food
• Event planning and executional skills
• Strong project management skills, as there is a need to understand and adhere to Tesco’s processes, including critical path milestones and ranging calendar
• Ability to multi-task projects, as there is a need to deal with many and wide-ranging suppliers
• It is a requirement of employment that the individual adheres to the Grocery Suppliers Code of Practice (GSCOP) regarding confidentiality and awareness 

Benefits

Company benefits

An outstanding and rare opportunity to work with Tesco plc in a crucial role, in one of Scotland's most important business sectors.

Placement benefits

As part of ScotGrad Graduate Placement Programme, the successful candidate will have access to a free two day business and employability skills residential course and also benefit from ongoing support from the ScotGrad team throughout the duration of the placement.

Additional information

Location: Livingston and Ingliston

Planned interview date: TBC

Preferred start date: 2nd February 2015

Company information

Scotland Food & Drink is the leadership body for the food & drink industry, established in 2007 to spearhead the industry’s growth to £16.5 billion by 2017.  It is a membership organisation, with the dual aim of bringing everyone involved in food and drink to work together to deliver greater success and build Scotland’s reputation as ‘A Land of Food & Drink’.  Scotland Food & Drink delivers a number of key industry projects to support food & drink businesses of all sizes and scale to achieve their ambitions, including ‘Access to Markets’ - a project aimed at helping companies access new routes to UK markets, develop their skills and growth their sales with retailers and foodservice companies.

Tesco is the leading multiple retailer in the UK with almost 30% market share.  Retail sales of Scottish products within Tesco Scotland are valued at over £320m and exceed £2bn in the UK.  Tesco has 208 stores in Scotland and a dedicated trading team responsible for the commercial delivery, marketing and technical compliance of Scottish products and around 160 Scottish food & drink suppliers. 

Company sector: Food and Drink

Company website: www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org